RHS Cyclones sweep ViloniaVILONIA — The Russellville Cyclones overpowered the Vilonia Eagles 62-26 on Tuesday — and it wasn’t even close. Vilonia didn’t score a field goal until the 5:52 mark of the second quarter. The Eagles hit a pair of free throws with 7:49 in the second, but Russellville scored 19 unanswered points in the first quarter. Who did the scoring? Just about everyone. Jacob Boles opened with an old-fashioned three-point play. K.J. Patrick hit a pair of p...

Hat trick for Cyclones Soccer?Russellville High School Cyclones Boys Soccer head coach Jared Fuller is already preparing to defend the Cyclone’s back-to-back class 6A state championships. Fuller led the Cyclones to a state championship title against Greenwood in 2014. The Cyclones returned in their 2015 season to win the championship against Siloam Springs. “In the first year, we won it in penalty kicks during overtime,” Fuller said. “This last year, it was during normal p...

Thompson brothers make name at ATUDARDANELLE — Kristian Thompson’s first varsity touchdown pass was to his brother, K.J. Thompson, in 2012 while playing for the Pulaski Robinson Senators. “I remember it like it was yesterday,” Kristian said. “The play was 22 hot. It was against JA Fair. I don’t think he was touched all the way to the end zone.” “You know I wasn’t,” K.J. added, grinning. Kristian, 19, transfered to Dardanelle before his junior season, but K.J., 20, stayed behin...

Hoops for Hunger to support local charitiesSeveral Arkansas schools will come together next month for a basketball tournament that will raise funds for local charities. Proceeds from Hoops for Hunger on Dec. 28-30 at Russellville High School's Cyclone Arena will benefit River Valley Food 4 Kids and Manna House as part of an effort to provide food to those in need in the Arkansas River Valley. Sixteen teams, eight boys teams and eight girls teams, will play in the three-day event, which...

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COURIER STAFF www.couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Hoops for Hunger to support local charitiesSeveral Arkansas schools will come together next month for a basketball tournament that will raise funds for local charities. Proceeds from Hoops for Hunger on Dec. 28-30 at Russellville's Cyclone Arena will benefit River Valley Food 4 Kids and Manna House as part of an effort to provide food to those in need in the Arkansas River Valley. Sixteen teams, eight boys teams and eight girls teams, will play in the three-day event, which will offer ...

Warriors lose to Prescott 53-28PRESCOTT — “We didn’t keep it close,” Lamar Warriors head coach Josh Jones said after the Warriors 53-28 loss to the Prescott Curley Wolves on Friday at Cummins Stadium. Jones said the weather and the season’s injuries finally caught up to the Warriors. Lamar lost quarterback Hunter Davenport to injury earlier in the season against Charleston. Davenport’s back-up, Dusty Wilkins, was injured in the first round of the playoffs. Both were startin...

Wildcats upended by RisonHECTOR — For the second year in a row, the Hector Wildcats season ended to the Rison Wildcats. Hector lost 46-36 in the third round of the Class 2A state playoffs at Wildcat Field. Hector took a 7-0 lead with 9:39 left in the first quarter, but Rison answered back with a touchdown and 2-point conversion to make it 8-7 with 6:26 left in the first quarter. Hector fumbled the kickoff and Rison recovered and from there Rison made it 24-7. "We came...

Danville falls to Harding Academy 22-14DANVILLE — The Danville Little Johns were nearly too much for the harding Academy Wildcats on Friday at Little John Field. Danville (8-4) took a 14-0 lead at halftime, but could only generate 34 yards of offense in the second half and fell 22-14. Jake Madding put Danville up 6-0 with 11:18 left in the first quarter on a 63-yard run. Danville missed the PAT. Madding scored again with 4:25 in the first quarter on another 63-yard run. Madding add...

Sand Lizards' run ends to ArkadelphiaDARDANELLE — The Dardanelle Sand Lizards' football season came to an end on the Arkadelphia Badgers’ 18-yard line with less than a minute left in Friday night’s game at Bob Keenan Field. Dardanelle (12-1) took possession on its own 40 down 21-14 with 3:10 left on the clock. Chris Kershner gashed the Badgers with an 11-yard run, followed by an 8-yard carry by Daniel Craig. Kershner picked up another 15 yards on another five plays, and Craig rus...

Lady Whirlwinds win streak ends to NLRThe Russellville Lady Whirlwinds suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday inside Whirlwind Gymnasium. Russellville (3-1) head coach Chase White said the Lady Whirlwinds kept pace with North Little Rock through the first half but were outplayed in the second. In the end, the Junior Lady Charging Wildcats won 45-31. “They out-rebounded us and beat us down the floor,” he said. “This was a good learning experience for our girls to show u...

Whirlwinds defeated by NLRThe Russellville Whirlwinds were defeated 49-27 by the North Little Rock Junior Charging Wildcats on Tuesday inside Whirlwind Gymnasium. The Whirlwinds (2-2) were outscored 11-5 in the first quarter and 22-8 by halftime. North Little Rock made it 40-16 after the third quarter. “North Little Rock is really good,” Russellville head coach Matt Howerton said. “But we are struggling a bit right now, too. We had a bunch of guys move away over the su...

RHS wrestling season begins Dec. 1When the Russellville Cylcones — or Wrestleville Cyclones, as they sometimes call themselves — host their first wrestling match inside the Russellville Middle School gymnasium on Dec. 1, head coach Adrian Meredith believes it could be the start of a special season. Veteran and senior wrestlers Frankie Williams, Michael Ritchie and James “Paco” Phommavongsa will return to the mat. Phommavongsa finished fourth in the state in 2014. Ritchie place...

River Valley Rewind (Nov. 25, 2015)Outstanding athletes of Russellville High School talk of the future in the high school gymnasium after Bruce Webb (right), son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Webb, was named to the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. With Webb, who also was named the outstanding defensive football player are Bob Halasek (left), designated the outstanding track athlete, and Stanley Cochran, who was named the outstanding offensive football player. Not shown is Ronald Smith,...

Golden Suns welcome North Alabama todayGetting back to nonconference play after a weekend sweep to start Great American Conference play, the Arkansas Tech women’s basketball team hosts former Gulf South rival North Alabama in a 5:30 p.m. tipoff today. Scouting the Golden Suns The No. 18 Golden Suns (3-0) have three comfortable wins to start the season, topping their opponents by an average of 27.3 points per game. That average got a bump from a 105-64 victory over Northwestern Okla...

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Jr. Apaches win Ozark tournamentOZARK — The Pottsville Junior Apaches defeated the Ozark Junior Hillbillies 44-41 in the finals of the Ozark Junior High Invitational on Saturday. Pottsville (5-0) led 12-10 after the first quarter but trailed 25-24 at halftime. The Junior Apaches tied the game 35-35 in the third quarter. “I’m really proud of the guys for finding a way to win the game on a night we didn’t play our best,” Pottsville head coach Garrett Hill said. “The guys made ...

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Courier sports staffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Pottsville season ends in heartbreakSometimes in life, you remember the things you want to forget, and you forget the things you want to remember. Pottsville Apaches head coach Bryan Rust has found the same to be true in football. “I’ve been doing this a long time,” he said. “I was in two state championship games. I got too far upfield on one play and missed a tackle. We lost that game. Twenty-five years later, I still feel like it was my fault. You remember the losses. The funn...

#Band4ACureNovember is Diabetes Awareness month with the awareness color being blue. Nicholas Carter and Hannah Vines, along with several other RJHS students, live with Type 1 Diabetes every day. The students wanted to help promote awareness as well as support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). The RJHS student council and RJHS cheerleaders sold blue armbands and headbands throuhgout this week at school during lunch to promote the cause. A...

Warriors squash Red BugsLAMAR — To say the Lamar Warriors have overcome adversity is an understatement. Lamar defeated the Fordyce Red Bugs 36-35 on Friday at Warrior field. The Warriors lost starting quarterback and linebacker Hunter Davenport earlier in the season to injury. Then, Lamar lost its back-up quarterback and other starting linebacker Dusty Wilkins during the Warriors' 50-22 win over Cedar Ridge in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs. None of that wa...

Wildcats survive BrinkleyHECTOR — The Wildcats trailed a team for the first time all season during Friday's 28-20 win over the Brinkley Tigers at Brinkley Field. The Wildcats (12-0) suffered two turnovers in the first half and gave up a 50-yard touchdown to trail 7-0 in the first quarter. Hector answered with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Gaines to Jalen Ferguson to tie the game. Gaines connected with Ferguson again to take a 14-7 lead, but Brinkley tied the gam...

Little Johns beat ParisDANVILLE — The Danville Little Johns picked up their first Class 3A state playoff win in school history on Friday with a 22-19 victory over the Paris Eagles. Danville (8-3) took a 7-0 lead with 7:07 left in the first quarter on a 35-yard run by Jamey Holbrook. Paris (7-5) answered with a 64-yard run by Nate Davidson. Danville's Travis Western blocked the PAT kick to make it 7-6 with 6:17 left in the first quarter. Paris took a 12-7 lead at hal...